I am a fan of old school anything. Old skool birthday parties, old skool fountain sodas, old skool lunch boxes. I wasn't so sure about old school magic.
I headed up to The Post Street Theatre to see the upcoming magician Darren Romeo - a new Siegfried & Roy production - with my dad and son. Tip: If you are going to the show with children under 5, be sure to call ahead to get permission to bring them. The theatre does not allow babies on laps or small children. The traffic was a beast - but I'll save my review of Silicon Valley freeways for another day.
When the show started and Darren Romeo started to sing, I thought that sitting in traffic for two hours was going to be the highlight of the evening. I thought this was going to be some bad lounge act with magic tricks. Yet Darius was captivated from the start. He was thrilled with the old school magic tricks - the floating table, getting sawed in half, pulting a straw up your nose and have it come out of your mouth (yes, Darren Romeo really did that). As the show grew on, Darren and the show grew on me.
I even got called onto the stage to assist in one of his telepathy tricks. I never got if I was on the wrong end of a bad joke or if it there was something magical in the trick. Needless to say, he picked right. Darius was thrilled that his mother got to be on the stage. I was a little mortified. But Darren's frequent interactions with the audience - he came out to talk between nearly every act - made the show have an intimate, informal feel that was perfect for families.
Bottom line: A great show for families. But I would pick something else for a date night.
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